Firing Ranges

Providing Environmental Assessments to Shooting Ranges and Gun Clubs

We are an interdisciplinary consulting firm specializing in the fields of risk assessment, risk management using Best Management Practices (BMPs), and environmental monitoring. We have worked on projects from Massachusetts to Hawaii, and points in between, including a frequently-cited, pioneering assessment of lead contamination and management for the Pikesville Sportsmen’s Club (Maryland) in 1991. Since then, we have worked on existing or proposed ranges in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington, and Hawaii. In addition, we have done environmental studies in approximately 17 other states. Further, Dr. Cohen has lectured at least 12 times on lead risk assessment and management for the NRA at its Range Development Conferences. He also was an invited lecturer for the World Symposium on Lead in Ammunition (Rome, 2004), the Fourth National Shooting Range Symposium (Phoenix, 2000), and an NRA Conference on Outdoor Shooting Ranges (Arlington, TX, 1997).

Services for Shooting Ranges:

The potential for lead and arsenic contamination is one of the key issues facing firing ranges and gun clubs today. ETS can assist these groups by providing environmental services in six different areas.

Information Gathering

The chemistry of lead and arsenic and their compounds is well understood by ETS. The presence of spent shot or bullets lying on the ground does not necessarily constitute a “hazardous” condition, but there is increasing focus by the EPA and its state counterparts on this topic. OSHA’s rules are especially relevant to indoor ranges. The ETS team can provide scientific solutions and regulatory information in this area.

Proactive Environmental Stewardship

ETS can provide range designers and managers the tools necessary for a proactive approach to protect the indoor and outdoor environment. Lead in its pure form is not mobile in soil and water; however, it can become mobile after reacting with fertilizers, soil, and/or atmospheric components. Unhealthful air concentrations can occur at indoor ranges if certain precautions are not taken. The ETS team can advise on measures to mitigate these problems.

Contaminant Assessment

The ETS team has extensive experience in monitoring soil and water, and we can provide guidance for indoor air quality monitoring. More importantly, our risk assessment expertise enables us to interpret the results in a responsible manner.

Contaminant Remediation

ETS uses the risk assessment process to plan and implement feasible shooting range cleanup. ETS is also knowledgeable of the confounding chemistry variables affecting the fate of oxidized lead and arsenic – – certain measures that can simultaneously immobilize lead and mobilize arsenic, and vice versa. (Lead shot usually contains arsenic.)

Expert Witness Testimony

ETS staff have extensive experience providing expert witness testimony at the federal, state, and local levels, in trials, before regulatory agencies, before Congress, and in local public meetings.

EPA & OSHA Compliance Guide

We developed the first industry best management practices guide for firing ranges, “EPA and OSHA Compliance Guide for Small Arms Ranges: A Focus on Lead” in January 1997. Our experienced environmental consultants can provide you with consultation services and strategic planning for meeting and exceeding EPA and OSHA compliance standards.

Environmental & Turf Services provides firing range contaminant remediation and assessment, ecotoxicology support, and more to firing ranges, golf courses, and more across the United States and worldwide.